Take the packet to your next meeting to discuss potential fundraisers you and your brothers can hold! Inside are load of great ideas that are tested to work and to make you and your group lots of money.

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Fraternities need to be creative in order to attract fellow students who are willing to help them in their causes. One very unique and entertaining activity is a Jail and Bail fundraiser. The host fraternity needs to pick a location for the “jail” which is usually a campus building or an activity center where students naturally gather. They then need to coordinate with students, faculty and university officials who are willing to get arrested. Fellow students pay a sum to get their fellow students or faculty members arrested. The arrested individuals are then brought to the jail where their mug shots are taken. The jailed folks will appear before someone who has been appointed as judge who will then set the bail amount. The bail amount will depend on the “crimes” they commit. The jailed individuals are allowed to make calls to friends to raise their bail money.

A Jail and Bail fundraising activity will test the planning skills of fraternity members as well as give them an opportunity to work closely with faculty and university staff. The fraternity needs to organize the entire event at least a few weeks before the actual fundraiser so that they will have enough time to get permits and to advertise the Jail and Bail fundraiser. This fundraising activity is a very entertaining and enjoyable event that students and faculty alike will be able to participate in.

A jello wrestling fundraiser is a very creative, fun and easy activity which a fraternity can host. The group just needs to invest in a big portable pool that will serve as the wrestling ring. Jello will be placed inside the pool where participants covered in jello will be wrestling. The materials needed for a jello wrestling fundraiser are fairly inexpensive and will not normally cost more than $100. To attract an audience, the fraternity can team up with a sorority or another campus organization. Members of these organizations will be pitted against each other in friendly jello wrestling matches. Girl-versus-guy matches usually attract an audience. The group can charge an admission fee for spectators and they can sell food and drinks at the event venue to raise money.

Fraternities can be creative with the rules to make matches more interesting. They can even allow spectators to participate and wrestle with any of the fraternity or sorority members for a fee. Jello wrestling fundraisers usually have a huge crowd turnout because they are entertaining. Fraternity members just have to make sure that the fundraising event is well advertised to the student body.

A fraternity should consider several factors when organizing fundraising parties. First of all, the group should think about partnering up with a sorority so that they can split the costs for the party. This way, the fraternity can also be assured that the sorority will do its part in inviting more guests to the fundraising event. The fundraising party will be a success if more people come to the event. The group should also think about what party’s theme is going to be. Casino nights, simple dinner parties, club parties and comedy nights are sure to bring in a lot of people. Attendees can be charged an entrance fee, they can be charged for food and drinks they consume during the party, or they can pay a cover charge that’s consumable throughout the event.

Fundraising parties may be a lot of work for fraternity members who are also attending classes. Members have to organize the event by choosing and preparing the party venue, coordinating with food caterers or restaurants, and advertising the event, among other things. This is one of the reasons why fraternities choose to team up with sororities for parties: they get to split labor too. All their effort will not go to waste if their fundraising party is well attended and they get to raise enough money for their fraternity.

Participants in Phi Delta Phi’s second annual Date Auction sat on black leather couches under the bright lights of the stage of the 797 Lounge, nervously waiting for the auction to start.

Once the auction began, however, they loosened up, showing off their best poses, blowing kisses to the audience and taking bows in an attempt to increase the bidding, eventually raising $3,076.

The fraternity’s fundraiser was a pledge class project designed to raise money for Relay for Life Jaclyn Reilly, a new member of Phi Delta Phi, said.

The fraternity said they hoped this year’s auction would match the $3,000 that the first auction — which benefited the Interfraterni-ty Council/Panhellenic Council Dance Marathon (THON) –brought in.

“After the success of last year’s auction, we decided to make this the second one for Phi Delta Phi,” Reilly said.

About 150 people packed the 797 Lounge for the date auction. A few hours earlier, the auction was moved from its original venue, Mezzanine, which was unable to reopen Wednesday night because of renovations.

About 15 organizations were represented in the auction, including other organizations in the greek community, the Horticulture Department, Rainbow Roundtable and the Penn State Blue Band.

Kevin Masset, a member of Phi Delta Phi, was one of 30 participants to be auctioned. Though he was a little nervous, Masset (graduate-law) said he was excited about the event.

“It certainly is going to be unpredictable, and I think everyone that’s here is going to get involved and have a good time,” he said.
Kevin McGarry, the night’s auctioneer, was brimming with excitement as well.

“I love it,” McGarry (graduate-law) said. “It’s a blast. You’re whole job is to make sure people are having fun.”

The bidding started low, increasing by increments of five dollars. Some participants sold for around $30, while others went for as much as $200.

Participants requested what kind of date they wanted, and once they were sold, their buyers were given gift cards for restaurants, movie theaters, bowling allies and ice skating rinks.

Paul Van Fleet (graduate-law) purchased Kenny Donnelly, one of the fraternity’s Relay for Life team captains for $100.

“I was looking for someone who’s nice to look at, but also has a great personality, likes football,” Van Fleet said.

Donnelly (graduate-law) touted his singing, dancing and conversation skills to sell in his first auction.

“I’m one of the team captains for Relay for Life, so it was a natural fit,” he said.

Wesley Goldbaum (sophomore-kinesiology) was just hoping to sell.

Most participants wore either T-shirts or a dress shirt and tie, but Goldbaum, a member of Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) donned a suit for the occasion.

“I’m advertising myself as a gentleman, clean cut, nice,” he said. “Hopefully, I can meet someone real fun, someone new.”

St. Matthew of the Apostle in Randolph is helping to organize the collection, which can be made there and at all the participating churches beginning Saturday and ending Jan. 31.

In addition to St. Matthew, Our Lady of the Mountain and Saint Mark The Evangelist, both in Long Valley, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Morristown, Saint Andrew Greek Orthodox Church in Randolph and St. Therese in Succasunna all will collect food at various times.

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“I can’t tell you how many people have called me wanting to do something,” said Stephen Gebhardt, a parishioner at St. Matthew of the Apostle.

Gebhardt has taken several humanitarian trips to the impoverished island nation.

He said he has no problem with people sending monetary donations to charitable outlets, but “buying and sending food gets people more engaged.”

Only the following items can be accepted for this drive: canned meat (Spam, ham, chicken, turkey, corned beef, etc.), canned fish (tuna, sardines, salmon), canned milk (evaporated or Parmalat) and water in cases or jug.

There’s no official death count from Tuesday’s earthquake, but the number could be in the hundreds of thousands, according to several media reports.

Several other houses of worship in Morris County are organizing various relief efforts.

St. Catherine of Siena in Mountain Lakes has a Haiti Committee that works to provide aid to a sister parish, Our Lady of the Nativity, in Dame Marie. A church receptionist on Thursday said nothing has been finalized, but the church plans some type of event to help Haiti.

Similarly, Rabbi Mordechai Baumgarten of the Chabad Center of Northwest New Jersey in Rockaway Township said he too expects to collect some type of relief from members to aid Haiti.

“We are. We don’t have any information on that yet (but) we are going to be working with our headquarters in Brooklyn,” Baumgarten said, adding the plan should be finalized within the next two to three days.

Social service organizations also are organizing efforts.

Alpha Xi Omega, a central New Jersey-based post-graduate fraternity, will hold a two-day fundraiser on Saturday and Sunday at the Wal-mart store in the International Trade Center in Mount Olive.

Chapter president Jason Furbert, who grew up in Morristown, said fraternity members were going to collect funds to buy pre-paid phone calling cards for troops overseas, but decided to collect for both causes.

“Monetary is preferred, but we’re a community-based Greek organization,” Furbert said. “If anybody else has anything to contribute we can … ship those items over there for them.”

Fraternity members will be at Walmart from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.

Meanwhile, the Diocese of Paterson will ask its churches to take up a second collection during services this weekend, Richard Sokerka, the Diocese’s communications director, said Thursday. Money collected will go to Catholic Relief Services.

Matt Manochio: 973-428-6627; mmanochi@gannett.com

http://mentoringbrothers.org

Works out in the health spa, muscles glow”

– “Macho Man,”
the Village People, 1978

YAKIMA, Wash. — Not so young. Not so serious.

Not so fast.

Sure, they’re getting up there. Most are baby boomers, and a couple have already retired. But don’t let their name fool you. The members of the Not So Buff exercise club are pretty buff.

Today, as New Year’s resolutions to be and do better are kicking in, more than a few could take a lesson from this group.

“The idea is overall healthiness,” says 62-year-old Martin Howell, co-founder of the not-so-hardcore club.

But there’s more to it than lifting weights.

“We do the exercises, but we do as much laughing,” Howell says. “We tease each other ruthlessly.”

Members poke fun at one another’s paunches, love handles and “man boobs” as they pump iron, do aerobics and even learn new yoga poses. They’ve also been known to break into song on occasion.

But all that goofing around doesn’t mean they slack off. When it comes to exercising, these jokesters mean business.

The 14 men of Not So Buff have been working out twice a week at the Yakima Family YMCA for 10 years now.

They pitch in to pay a personal trainer, who pushes them through a series of strength-training, aerobic and yoga exercises one night a week. The other night, a group member leads the session — part exercise class, part support group, part men’s club.

“You’d think you’re in a pub,” Howell says. “This is like the show ‘Cheers’ for an exercise group,” except there’s no Carla or Diane. “It is boys’ night.”

Jokes abound in the Not So Buff brotherhood. But there’s also a serious side to this fraternity.

“We’re 55, 60 years old,” Howell says. “We’re sitting at a point where the worst of your health issues are hitting in — the high cholesterol, the high blood pressure. Every time I turn around there’s something that’s not working like it did when I was 25.”

Members range in age from 50 to 78, except for one 33-year-old, a Gen X-er who’s new and brings down the median age. He’s the baby of the bunch. Most members are nearing retirement. And they’re easy to spot at the Y, sporting yellow, green and gray “Not So Buff” — “NSB” for short — T-shirts.

“Good-looking bunch, huh?” says their personal trainer, 31-year-old Beau Braun, before leading them through a set of bicep curls.

The men meet in a designated “Not So Buff Room,” located down a first-floor hall next to the racquetball courts. Plaques on the wall commemorate the group’s fundraising to make Y programs available to children whose families might otherwise not be able to afford it.

Below the awards, there’s a target heart-rate chart and sign warning: “There will be a $5 charge for whining.”

That doesn’t stop them, of course. They joke about being allergic to exercise, pretend to hit each other with yoga mats and applaud when they’ve finished a set.

“We laugh at each other and ourselves,” says 66-year-old Tom Froula, who’s been Not So Buff for four years.

It’s one of the unwritten rules: You have to have a sense of humor — dry, wry and witty is best — as well as a thick skin. You have to be able to take it if you’re gonna dish it out — and you’re expected to dish it out. That’s part of the fun. What’s the point of sweating if you’re not having any?

Get caught taking the elevator or otherwise taking it easy, and you’ll get stuck wearing a pink T-shirt proclaiming: “Girlie Man of the Month.”

“There’s nothing politically correct” about the club, Howell says. “We’re not P.C.”

They tone it down for yoga, though. Their trainer, Howell says, “would like us not to crack jokes during yoga so we’ve learned to be quiet” — at least while doing downward dog or practicing the child’s or warrior poses.

Braun reminds them to focus: “Take your time. Focus on yourself. Stay centered. Nice and tall,” he encourages.

“That’s good stuff right there. Love it. Exhale.”

Froula wobbles a bit and strives to keep his balance.

“Timber!” he calls, but he doesn’t fall.

“I think the group dynamic is motivation because it makes it fun,” he says. “It’s much easier than trying to do it by myself or on my own.”

Howell and a friend — Yakima dentist Tom Holbrook, 56 — formed the group in 2000. They’ve been going strong, and growing stronger, ever since.

“We started out with two,” Howell says. “For six or eight months, there were three of us. Then it went to five.”

Now, more than a dozen men — including fruit industry folks, businessmen and a stockbroker — regularly come to workouts.

“We buy into the idea that personal training makes a difference,” says Howell, who collects about $15 per month per person for the Tuesday-night trainer.

Holbrook frequently leads the Thursday night workouts.

Dennis Murphy has been going since 2005. The 66-year-old retired Air Force lieutenant colonel laughingly recalls how Howell recruited him, saying something like, “‘I don’t know you but you’re fat and old. You need in our group.’”

“I’ve been there ever since,” he says. “It’s the highlight of my week, every Tuesday and Thursday.”

The pink T-shirt tradition was his idea. He got stuck wearing it in December when fellow Not So Buff-ers caught him using the elevator after a workout. But the same guys helped him lose 22 pounds, enough to get him back into his old uniform, which he wore to a recent military ball.

NSB members, he says, strengthen each other’s resolve long after New Year’s resolutions wear off.

“Our likelihood for exercise as individuals is probably 100-fold greater because we have the group,” Howell agrees. “You need a group of people that will hold you accountable. You don’t let anybody in our group give up.”

To him, Not So Buff embodies the Y’s motto of promoting a healthy spirit, mind and body. That’s because their camaraderie extends beyond the gym.

Once a month, the group goes to dinner at the Olive Garden for post-workout pasta. Sometimes, they stop at Bob’s Keg and Cork for a beer or two after exercising. And if one of them lands in the hospital — it’s happened a few times in the past 10 years — members all go to visit.

“I feel very fortunate to be part of the group,” says 78-year-old Dwight Berghoff, a retired orchardist and the oldest member of Not So Buff. “We have a lot of fun joshing.”

The tight-knit fraternity doesn’t have room for new members at the moment. But Howell encourages friends or colleagues to start similar groups — or keep together teams from the recent Yakima vs. Yuma Weight Loss Challenge — for the New Year and all its resolutions.

“It’s a very simple message to anybody,” he says. “Yes, you can do this.”

This would not have been possible if not for the efforts of members of the Shrine Club, members of the community, and various local civic-minded businesses, (which act as collection locations).

In case you did not know, there are approximately 1,300 pull-tabs to one pound. This means that there were over 5.80 million pull-tabs collected. After they are collected, members of the Shrine club sort them (to separate other types of metals) and bring them to a local scrap metal facility to be recycled. All of the proceeds of which are used to provide free transportation to the Shriner’s Hospitals for Children for patients, their immediate families, and necessary medical personnel and equipment from anywhere in the world. (This is funded by the Aleppo Shriner’s Patient Transportation Fund and similar funds set up exclusively for this purpose by other Shrine Temples.)

The Shriner’s collect the pull-tabs for four reasons, first, it allows others to help without additional cost to them. Second, because it allows people to help while keeping the can which they can still turn back in to recover the full redemption fee. Third, by recycling the aluminum, the Shriner’s are being environmentally friendly (It requires approximately 15% of the energy to recycle the already refined aluminum rather than mine new aluminum). Most importantly, it also is another way to help kids receive world class-care free of charge at the Shriner’s Hospitals for Children.

The Shriner’s Fraternity consists of men from all walks of life whom also belong to the Masonic fraternity and are dedicated to ideals of fun, frivolity, camaraderie, patriotism, and most importantly supporting the world’s greatest philanthropy: the Shriner’s Hospitals for Children. They commit to these principles because of their strong desire to help others and make the world a better place, and in keeping with the tradition of the Masonic tenants of brotherly love, patriotism, relief, charity, and truth.

On the local level, the chapters known as, Shrine Clubs have various fun social events for their members as well as fundraising events in order to donate to the hospital funds and support free transportation of patients and their families to the Shriner’s Hospitals free of charge. The Shrine Club of Southeastern Mass is the oldest operating Shrine Club and raised $14,700 in 2009 and every penny went to the hospital fund for the well-being of children with no personal gain to anybody.

The Shriner’s Hospitals for Children are a one-of-a-kind international health care system dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing specialty pediatric care, innovative research, and outstanding teaching programs. Children up to the age of 18 with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate are eligible for admission and receive all care in a family-centered environment at no financial obligation to patients or families.

Massachusetts is fortunate to have two Shriner’s Hospitals locally, with one in Boston dedicated to burn care and another in Springfield devoted to orthopedics. The Burn Center in Boston is the largest in the world and leads the way in research work. If you know of a child that the Shriner’s Hospitals may be able to help, please call 1-800-237-5055 or visit www.shriners4kids.com.

This is an ongoing project and in addition to the various places currently collecting tabs which you can drop off your pull-tab’s (Go to www.shriners22.com, or www.shriners22.blogspot.com, or www.facebook.com.shriners22 to find out participating locations where you can drop of your tabs.) we are always looking for new locations, email us at shriners22@gmail.com.

In addition, the Shrine Club has various other activities throughout the year to support the Shriner’s Hospitals for Children. Information about these events, and how to become a Shriner can be found on our website(s): www.shriners22.com, www.shriners22.blogspot.com, or www.facebook.com.shriners22.

http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/article_f6198b3a-efe6-11de-ac35-001cc4c03286.html